A quick overview of opportunity analysis tools for early stage business ideas

1. THEIDEATORA MONASH GENERATOR EVENT
MONASH.EDU/ENTREPRENEURSHIP

2. Opportunity
Analysis
Make sure
you put your
stake in the
ground in the
right place

3. Thought
Leaders
Quality
Influences
Target Customer
(Refine Solution)
Targeted Research (no
product disclosure)
Base Market Research
(secondary – desk research)

4. 3 Questionsto focus your
opportunity
analysis

5. 1 How are people
meeting this need
today?

6. 2 Is someone else
already filling
this need?

7. 3 Is the opportunity
financially
viable?

8. And a LOT more questions to
be thinking about…
o How large is the current or potential market (addressable
market size)
o How fast is the market growing/declining? Is it emerging
or mature?
o Who are your competitors and what are their offerings?
o Why is now the right time for you to enter this market?

9. Formulas
to structure
opportunity
analysis

10. 1. Customer Filter
o Clearly identifiable customer
o Meaningful problem to solve
o Segmentable market
o Customer accessibility
o Customer alignment
POEM
Kicking your idea’s tyres – all 25 of them
2. Product Filter
o Tight niche focus
o No network effect
o Lean method viable
o Team-to-market fit
o Inherent story

11. 3. Economic Filter
o Healthy margins
o Demand constraints
o Supply constraints
o Sunk costs
o Cash flow requirements
4. Timing
o Secular trend alignment
o Recent innovation enabler
o Market inefficiency
o Recent competition surge
5. Competition
o Limited competition
o Competitor fitness
o Team fitness
o Defensible position
o Barriers to entry

12. Product Idea
Generation
Technology Description
Worksheet
TPM Worksheet
Product Attribute
Worksheet
Further
Technical
Development
TEC Algorithm
Product
Description
Refinement
Idea
Prioritisation &
Summary
Product Definition
& Market
Description
Decision
Technology, Legal,
Marketing, Financial,
Organisation,
Manufacturing

13. Identify many opportunities within the technical
capability of the team to analyse
Prioritise performance-to-cost advantage over competitive
products, market size or growth potential,
technical risks, profit potential, etc.
TEC - Ideation

15. Screen to identify the most promising while expending
the minimum time and resources
Assess Use standard tools to assess (industry mapping,
SWOT analysis, utility analysis, Five Forces, Value
Chain analysis, etc. Search for “fatal flaws” –
factors that make the product less desirable n the
context of the team objectives
TEC - Validation

16. Have we captured the best product concept?
More ideas based on new info, then focus
TEC – Am I Done Yet?

17. •Brainstorm
•Determine whether this product fulfills a market need
•Identify similar products/technologies/innovations
•Search for articles, patents, etc.
•Identify market barriers
•Industry forecasts
QuickLook
Step 1 – Identify Potential Markets

18. •Search for associations, societies, organisations in the
field
•Search databases for industry & company information
•Find out who manufactures similar products
•Find out who purchases the products that they sell
(primary and/or secondary).
Step 2 – Identify End Users & Potential Licensees
Also Steps 3 & 4 further

19. •Canvas
•Industry mapping
•SWOT analysis
•Utility analysis
•Five Forces
•Value Chain analysis
Lots of Opportunity Analysis Tools

20. Business Model Canvas

22. Building this out will help you better simplify your
business concept into something you can explain
easily and clearly.
There are THOUSANDS of tutorials to walk you
through how to build this out. Google
“business model canvas tutorial”
“how to complete business model canvas”
“example completed business model canvas”
Etc.

23. Industry Mapping TKA’s Enhanced Industry Mapping

27. SWOT Template
Helpful Harmful
InternalExternal
Strengths
•
•
•
Weaknesses
•
•
•
Opportunities
•
•
•
Threats
•
•
•

28. • Demographics
• Divide larger market into groups based on several defined traits (e.g. age,
race, gender, marital status, occupation, education, income)
• Geographic
• Specific to a certain community, state, region, country or group of countries
• Psychographics (Lifestyle)
• Identify consumers based on interests and activities
• Behavioural
• Based on user behaviours, including patterns of use, price sensitivity, brand
loyalty and benefits sought
• Business Segmentation
Market Segmentation

29. Technology Readiness Level
Phase TRL Maturity Level
Commercial Development 9 Large-scale commercial operations
8 Semi-works-scale technology demonstration
Commercial Transition 7 Detailed engineering design
Viability Demonstration 6 Scale-up & pilot-scale validation
Technology robustness validation
Technology Development 5 Performance enhancement/techno-
economic model
4 Lab-scale development & integration
Feasibility Demonstration 3 Lab-scale experimental proof of concept
2 Technology application formulated
Basic Research 1 Promising research finding
Idea 0 Idea-stage concept

30. THEIDEATOR
Just keep hacking…